Get Off The Phone? New Saliva Study Suggests Possible Cancer Link

Researchers out of Tel Aviv, studying the saliva of 20 heavy cell phone users (on average 29 hours a month on the phone for 12 years) find troubling signs: “higher oxidative stress — a process that damages all aspects of a human cell, including DNA — through the development of toxic peroxide and free radicals. More importantly, it is considered a major risk factor for cancer…”

A WHO agency cities a possible link between brain cancer and cell phone use

Researchers report a “significant increase in all salivary oxidative stress indices studied in mobile phone users. Salivary flow, total protein, albumin, and amylase activity were decreased in mobile phone users. These observations lead to the hypothesis that the use of mobile phones may cause oxidative stress and modify salivary function.”

Back in 2011, there was big news from the WHO when cell phones were categorized as possibly carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It was the first time a World Health Organization agency made the claim but still no study has been conclusive. “There is some evidence for an increased risk of glioma,” or brain cancer, Kurt Straif, head of the IARC Monographs Program back when the news came out. “It’s not at the moment clearly established that the use of mobile phones does in fact cause cancer.

Here’s more from the news release on the Israeli saliva study, published in the Journal Antioxidants and Redox Signaling:

Dr. Yaniv Hamzany of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Department at the Rabin Medical Center, looked for clues in the saliva of cell phone users. Since the cell phone is placed close to the salivary gland when in use, he and his fellow researchers, including departmental colleagues Profs. Raphael Feinmesser, Thomas Shpitzer and Dr. Gideon Bahar and Prof. Rafi Nagler and Dr. Moshe Gavish of the Technion in Haifa, hypothesized that salivary content could reveal whether there was a connection to developing cancer.

Comparing heavy mobile phone users to non-users, they found that the saliva of heavy users showed indications of higher oxidative stress — a process that damages all aspects of a human cell, including DNA — through the development of toxic peroxide and free radicals. More importantly, it is considered a major risk factor for cancer…

For the study, the researchers examined the saliva content of 20 heavy-user patients, defined as speaking on their phones for a minimum of eight hours a month. Most participants speak much more, Dr. Hamzany says, as much as 30 to 40 hours a month. Their salivary content was compared to that of a control group, which consisted of deaf patients who either do not use a cell phone, or use the device exclusively for sending text messages and other non-verbal functions.

Compared to the control group, the heavy cell phone users had a significant increase in all salivary oxidative stress measurements studied.

I’m just glad my kids don’t talk on the phone much anymore — they just text. Readers, haw do you manage the potential health dangers of cell phones?

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Massachusetts is the leading laboratory for health care reform in the nation, and a hub of medical innovation. From the lab to your doctor’s office, from the broad political stage to the numbers on your scale, we’d like CommonHealth to be your go-to source for news, conversation and smart analysis. Your hosts are Carey Goldberg, former Boston bureau chief of The New York Times, and Rachel Zimmerman, former health and medicine reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

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